Breaking the Rules (Roaming Devils MC #1) (3 page)

He hadn’t shaved that morning, so a light amount of stubble covered his chin. He was tired and his eyes showed it. He needed a shower to wash the stench off and he needed to brush his teeth.

He started with the teeth. He opened a new toothbrush and dabbed some of his toothpaste on it. After scrubbing his teeth, he decided to strip. He didn’t know what the fuck was wrong with him, but all he could think about was Ella. He wanted to believe that she’d called her mother and her mother had given her the comfort he couldn’t give. He wanted to believe that for her sake, her father made it out alive. He didn’t understand the closeness she had with the cop, but he’d felt a pang in his chest as he’d watched her response. He wanted to hold her. To pull her against him and protect her. He ached for it.

A quick shower got him clean and he decided against shaving. He was too fucking tired to care about what he looked like. He got out and dried off, walking naked to the bed. The sheets were clean and he was okay with wallowing in his misery for a little while.

****

“What do you mean the Roaming Devils just found him?”

Ella stared at her mother. “They just found him.”

She shook her head. “They would never help a cop in need, Ella. They did this to him. I’m going to press charges.”

Ella grabbed her mother’s arm. “Don’t. There is plenty about this that you do not know. Don’t make it worse.”

Her mother’s eyes widened. “What? What do I not know?”

“It doesn’t matter. Just be thankful he is alive.” Ella took in a shaky breath.

The doctors performed surgery on her father and gave him a room in the ICU. He’d had just about every bone in his body broken. Once the swelling went down, they would go back and fix him up again. He had been close to death. Ella realized that when she first saw him. She didn’t know much about gangs but she had heard of death of a thousand cuts before. From the shallow gashes all over his skin, she assumed that was the torture he’d endured. Along with the beatings. There were marks on his body that looked like he’d been prodded. She took a deep breath and let it out.

“Are you mixed up with them, Ella? Are you in trouble?”

“Stop asking questions, Mom.” Ella stared at her father. “The less you know, the better off you are.”

“What is wrong, Ella? I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what is wrong!”

Ella grabbed her frantic mother’s hand. “Listen to me. You need to drop it right now. Your husband was beat up by some unknown assailant and the Roaming Devils found him. That is all you need to know.”

Ella stood and left the room. She’d committed a felony. The thought was hard to live with. She’d used one of her friend’s patients to steal fentanyl for Razor and she was pretty damn lucky that she hadn’t been caught. A life of crime wasn’t for her. If she didn’t have the fucking residency, she would have cut her losses and gotten out of there like Razor wanted.

She needed to transfer her father. Get him somewhere safe so nobody could hurt him again. Her savings could do it. Make him disappear while still getting the best medical care she could afford. She was sure that there would be a way.

She went downstairs and grabbed her cell phone from her pocket. After dialing her boss to let him know what had happened, she sat down on a park bench outside the entrance. Extortion only worked if one party had leverage over the other. She had a feeling that Razor would hold rescuing her father over her head for as long as he could. He also had ways to deal with people that didn’t obey their agreements. While she didn’t think he’d beat her, she did think he could easily take everything she’d ever wanted in life out from under her. Her family, her job.

She thought about Ryker. He’d been there for her when she’d broken down. Such relief had filled her that she couldn’t stand and he’d wrapped his arms around her to hold her up. She thought about the way his hands felt against her. The way he stroked her back lightly as she clung to him. He was probably the last person on earth that she should have turned to, but she’d found herself pulling him closer.

It was exactly what Razor didn’t want.

She laughed to herself at the irony. His son liked her. That much was obvious. He’d been high and she’d been messed up in her own way. Her father had been on her case about moving back to town and she’d wanted to get back at him. He was over the guns and gangs division at the department and the idea of fucking one of the men he’d love to arrest was the only thing she could think of at the time.

And it wasn’t like she was completely immune to Ryker. He stayed in trouble and had more women than anyone, but he smiled at her like she was the only woman he saw. He talked to her like she was the most important person in the world. He made her feel like she mattered.

Maybe to him she did.

She closed her eyes, recalling that night. She came on to him because she knew he was high. His pupils were tiny and his hands were shaky. She took him back to her parents’ house instead of the one-bedroom apartment she’d rented and took her clothes off. She pulled him closer, willing him to fuck her hard and quick.

Instead, he kissed her tenderly. His lips were soft and he took his time, exploring her mouth with his tongue. His hands had drifted along the flat expanse of her stomach while he kissed along her jaw. She didn’t plan on him taking so much time to learn her body and make her feel good. She’d assumed all he wanted that night was sex. Hard, fast sex that should have been over with in minutes.

Ella opened her eyes as she thought about his lips on the curve of her breast. She’d set him up because she knew her father would be pissed. She tried to call it off before he got home, but it was too late. Ryker had pushed up over her, settling between her legs right as her father opened the door.

Maybe she deserved to be punished. She knew that Ryker sure as hell didn’t forgive her for what happened. He’d been high and her father had found a lot of drugs on him. He should have gone to jail for a long time, but got a few years instead. From what she gathered, they let him out early for good behavior.

He still seemed pissed at her. Pissed at the world, actually. He had men watch her, and maybe even watched her himself, but he acted like he didn’t want anything to do with her. Maybe it wasn’t the same for him. Maybe he simply saw her in the same light as her father. Just some helpless female that needed a man to protect her. She swallowed hard at the thoughts running through her head. She wanted to go see him. To talk to him about everything that had happened.

Standing, she grabbed her keys and headed toward her car. The clubhouse wasn’t too far away. She drove there on autopilot and parked outside the gates. When she walked up to the door, one of the club members opened it for her and let her inside. The place was a different atmosphere during the day. No women gyrating on the stripper poles. No one fucking in the open. She didn’t want to think about whatever else they did that she didn’t know about. She walked down a narrow hall toward the back room and rapped her knuckles against the door of the room Razor had taken her into.

When it opened, she blinked a few times, not expecting Ryker to be on the other side, naked. He glanced around and grabbed her arm, dragging her inside before anyone saw.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to you.” She swallowed. “I actually came to ask Razor’s permission to talk to you.”

Ryker shook his head. “You shouldn’t be here. It’s dangerous for you to be seen with me.”

Ella considered the danger he presented. In high school, he’d been the irresistible charmer. He’d kept his distance from her but she’d never thought too much about it. Her father preached heavily about crime in the city and how she needed to stay away from boys like Ryker. She was fairly sure he knew nothing about him back then but the association of the Roaming Devils tainted him in a way her father would never forgive. Ryker had been somewhat of a loner, though he had numerous friends. He was a troublemaker and gave the teachers a hard time about everything. Ella wondered if his life would have turned out differently if she’d made a stronger attempt to be his friend. There had been intense physical attraction between them at fifteen and if she had acted on it, would he be the criminal he was today? Would he have chosen the club life if there had been another option out there for him? Was it too late?

“I didn’t have any other way of talking to you.”

He grabbed a pen from the dresser and scribbled his number on her hand. “Call it, and I’ll answer. Don’t ever come here again.”

She stared at his body for a moment and she could see his reserve soften. “I wanted to say thank you. With everything, I know it wasn’t easy.”

He blew out a breath. “Ella, you really need to go.”

Even as he said it, he walked toward her without any intention of kicking her out. He cupped her face and held her while he leaned down to kiss her. She closed her eyes and kissed him back. The scrape of his stubble was enough to hurt but she didn’t mind. Ella felt his erection press against her as he backed her up to a nearby wall. He didn’t touch her. He simply kissed her, then pulled away.

“You need to go.”

His dark brown eyes pleaded with her. She knew she didn’t fit in with his life but she saw a different side of him that he didn’t reveal to anyone else. Maybe she was crazy for wanting to pursue a relationship with him, but he reminded her of that boy she’d liked in high school. The same one that she’d offered pencils to in homeroom. He was fiercely loyal to those he considered his family. Possessive and protective. They weren’t necessarily bad qualities for a boyfriend. She simply didn’t know how the other stuff factored in.

“Okay.”

He opened the door and glanced out in the hallway. “Go.”

She left him, heading back the way she’d come. Fortunately there were no members lurking and nobody to explain herself to. She glanced down at her hand and saw Ryker’s number. After she got in her car, she backed out and left. Her phone was in her pocket and she reached for it, putting the number in her contacts while she drove. He said he’d answer her if she called. It was tempting to see if he spoke the truth.

She went back to the hospital and grabbed something to eat. She stared at her cell phone while she ate nachos and selected his number.

“Yeah?” came his gruff voice.

“I just wanted to see if the number was real or if you’d lied to me.”

He snorted. “Why would I lie to you?”

“I don’t know.” She dipped a chip in some nacho cheese. “Maybe you thought I was a groupie or something. Into hero-worship or some nonsense.”

“I don’t think that.” He was silent for a moment. “How’s your father?”

The very way that he asked her made her tear up. He hated the man yet he asked her about his well-being. A truly horrible person wouldn’t do something like that. She was sure of it. “He made it through surgery. He’s in the ICU.”

Ryker didn’t comment. “How did you know I like ham and cheese with two pickles?”

“You told me.” Ella felt her cheeks heat at the memory. “We were talking that one day. I don’t know. It was a long time ago. You were hungry and you said you could really go for a ham and cheese sandwich with two pickles. Diet coke too.”

She felt stupid for remembering it about him but it seemed authentic and went with her cover for the stolen drugs.

“I’m surprised you remembered that.”

She glanced down at her food. “There’s a lot of things I remember about you.”

Maybe she was a groupie, she thought, considering her opinion of him. They’d spent one entire night simply talking about everything and while he hadn’t been the most forthcoming, he’d given her a clue as to who he truly was. She dubbed him as a biker with a heart. He liked talking about his motorcycle. He liked tattoos and joked about Ella getting one. He’d even told her where to put it by brushing his finger along her arm. The tingle he’d elicited had been her first spark of attraction. She liked that he still created the same sensation by simply talking to her.

When he didn’t respond, she determined that her admission had dipped into territory that she probably shouldn’t be dabbling in. The line stayed silent for a while with just the sound of their breathing.

“Can you come over?” She swallowed. “Tonight, I mean. At my place. It’s right down from the clinic. Northern Apartments. I’m in building C, apartment three fifteen.”

“That’s not a good idea, Ella.”

“Maybe not, but when have you only stuck to good ideas?” She was going crazy. Only a crazy person would invite a biker to their apartment. Only a crazy person would want to sleep with him after everything that had happened. Only a crazy person would need his comfort. She still tasted his kiss on her lips, and her body grew hyper aware of how good it would be with him. Even if it was a bad idea.

“Please,” she found herself pleading.

“What time?”

“Nine?”

“I’ll be there.” He paused. “And Ella?”

“What?”

“If we do this, there’s no going back.”

They disconnected and she set her phone on the table. Yeah. There would be no going back. The thought should have scared her, but it didn’t. She smiled. There was something about Ryker that made her feel special. She couldn’t easily let that go.